Mating together specific colored rooster and hen combinations can result in hen and rooster chicks that are discernibly different in color at hatching.

Such auto-sexing breeding chickens “recipes” are described below.

What are the benefits?

Breeding chickens in combinations that produce sex link chickens offers many benefits, based on the ability to separate the male chicks from the female chicks at hatching.

The common Hyline and ISA Brown laying birds, for example, are auto-sexed so that the hen chicks are brown and the rooster chicks yellow. This avoids the need to waste time, space and feed raising the commercially "useless" rooster chicks.

When breeding and raising chickens it is similarly valuable to be able to manage or trade chicks with the confidence that comes from knowing from the start what sex they are.